China’s January and February coking coal imports dropped 26.40% and 45.81%, respectively, on the month to 5.51 million mt in January and 2.99 million mt in February, contributed by the decrease in inflows from major suppliers like Canada and Mongolia, showed customs data
released March 21.
January and February imports from Mongolia were down 27.46% and 17.59% month on month, respectively, to 620,953 mt and 511,739 mt. The year-to-date volume of Mongolian coals was recorded at 1.13 million mt, down 71.08% from the same period last year. Pandemic control measures at the Ganqimaodu/Ceke port resulted in persisting operation and transportation disruptions in January and February, with the daily Mongolian truck activity at 100 trucks.
Mongolia’s daily COVID-19 cases in March have seen an improvement and truck activity has improved to close to 200 trucks/d and hence a better situation could be anticipated, sources said.
The decrease in the January and February import volumes was also contributed by the drop in Canada’s imports to China, which fell 40.77% and 52.03% on the month, respectively. The drop was largely caused by the severe weather impacts in British Columbia in November 2021.
Meanwhile, customs data showed that 1.49 million mt and 171,819 mt of Australian coking coals were imported in January and February, respectively, down 45.40% and 88.45% on the month.
“Stranded Australian coking coals are getting scarce at the port and the market generally anticipates the full consumption of these materials by early-April,” a China-based trader said.
Nevertheless, China imported 8.50 million mt coking coal in January-February, up 33.85% compared with the same period last year, mainly due to the clearance of stranded Australian coking coal
materials and an increase in imports from the US, as China buyers sourced alternative supplies in a bid to overcome the government’s unofficial ban on fresh Australian coking coal cargoes.
China exported 387,241 mt of metallurgical coke in January, down 12.18% on the month, and 548,660 mt in February, up 41.68% on the month, the customs data also showed.
An increase in demand for Chinese met coke was observed from European buyers due to the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict, and sources anticipate an increase in export volumes from March onward.
At the same time, China’s coke imports increased 5.71% on the month to 23,376 mt in January and increased 31.17% on the month to 30,662 mt in February.
Disclaimer: this article is from the SBB STEEL MARKET DAILY, the copyright belongs to the original author, and only represents the original author's viewpoint.
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